


Time and Time Again

by SimplyEssa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Emotional Hurt, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentions of drugs, More Hurt Than Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 15:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16642952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: Somehow, he knew this day would come.It was like he was cursed, in some aspects-- that being, the aspect of losing people he loves.There's no other explanation for it, he's certain.It started with his mother, continued with his father, his uncles, Shiro and Adam, and now, he hopes, it's ending with Hunk and Lance (though, deep down, he knows it's going to happen again, and that there will never be an end to this curse, as much as he wants there to be).





	Time and Time Again

**Author's Note:**

> okay listne despite whats canon shiro can cook good breakfast food in this
> 
> also!! i wrote this on a whim because im NOT in the best mood and i want to break something very badly but then! my parents will be upsetti spaghetti and the pencils i have are expensive bc.. theyre drawing pecnils...
> 
> anYWAYS ENJOY !!

Somehow, he knew this day would come.

It was like he was cursed, in some aspects-- that being, the aspect of losing people he  _loves._

There's no other explanation for it, he's certain.

It started with his mother, continued with his father, his uncles, Shiro and Adam, and now, he hopes, it's ending with Hunk and Lance (though, deep down, he knows it's going to happen again, and that there will  _never_ be an end to this curse, as much as he wants there to be).

* * *

 "I didn't mean to," he whispers, voice on the verge of breaking and getting lost to the wind. On an average day, he'd have some snark in him, maybe start yelling, maybe already have a punch in, but today is no ordinary day. He swallows hard and takes a step back, only to be met by the solid, brick wall of an apartment building, and a hand on the nape of his neck. Instantly, he tenses, fists tight as his sides, but it seems that now is the time he starts listening to Shiro's 'ask questions first, shoot later', way of going about things. "I swear, I-- I didn't--"

"Save it, kid," Rolo mutters, somewhere to his left, as he counts the bills in his hand. The bills are from what Keith had managed to sell that week, and... it's not a lot. Blatant terror takes a hold of his heart when the hand on the back of his neck tightens, holding him still when he tries to move. He watches Rolo sigh and shoved the money into the pocket of his coat before turning around again, a cigar hanging from his lips. "You didn't meet the maximum, and it's been a week since you got your load. I hate to do this, kid, really," he says, walking forwards with  _something_ in his glance that makes Keith's next breath stutter in his chest, "but it's protocol."

"Why?" he asks, breathless, as Rolo, crosses his arms and leans against the opposite wall in the alleyway, blowing out a puff of smoke. "They're just blueberries, it-- I can sell more!" he tries, struggling against the hand on his neck. He reaches up, trying to pry the fingers off with much smaller hands. They're too small for his sixteen-year-old-body but there's not much he can do to change it.

Another one of Rolo's friends comes forwards and takes both of his hands in one of his own, then pulls out a roll of duct tape. Fear clenches his body hard and he stills, eyes wide. He doesn't understand why they're doing this to him; they're just  _blueberries!_

The man rips off a rather long piece, encouraging Keith's struggles to become more fierce, and proceeds to wrap the length of silver duct tape around his wrists.

"Oh, kid," Rolo sighs, audible from here, and Keith's breaths flows in and out of his chest much too fast. Rolo runs a hand through his dirty blonde hair and blows out another ringlet of smoke before moving away, snapping his fingers at his men. One pulls a knife out of his pocket, and Keith swears his heart stops in his chest. "It's so much more than blueberries."

Rolo turns on his heels, then, telling them not to leave too much of a mess, and walks away.

The first punch lands in the middle of his face.

* * *

He doesn't understand why someone would hurt another so badly for not selling enough blueberries.

Every fiber of his being is in pain, from the tips of his toes to the last inch of hair. His left side is numb, probably a mixture of the harsh kicks it had received and the cold puddle he's been lying in for what must be twenty minutes, at least, though he has horrible concept of time. 

Rolo's friends were nice enough to take the duct tape off of his wrists, at least, when they got bored of hearing Keith's cries and beating him senseless. He rotates his wrists, trying to see how much mobility he has in them, only to stop short with a cry that reopens his split lip. He sniffles, feeling blood continue to drip down his cheek, from his bloody nose. He remembers exactly how he got that injury, crystal clear, unlike the rest of his injuries (the way his wrist hurts whenever it moves, or the near unbearable ache in his chest).

Coughing, he moves the wrist that doesn't hurt-- his right one-- and reaches into the pocket of his pants. Miraculously, when they dropped him, they dropped him on the side that, unfortunately, hurt more, but not the side that his phone was on. If that were the case, it would be more than likely he wouldn't be able to call anyone for help, because it would be infested with water and  _broken_.

He's glad Adam added his name in the emergency contact list; he doesn't have the energy to remember his passcode, or move his thumbs that much, and Adam would be far more calm than Shiro, and... even if he did call Shiro, he doesn't think he can stand the disappointed dad glare, at the moment.

He hits the 'call' button when Adam's contact pops up and waits for it to finish ringing with slightly wheezing breaths.

"Hello?"

"Adam," he manages, blinking slowly at the gravel beneath him. "'s... 's Keith."

"Oh-- hey, yeah, what's wrong, buddy? It's four in the morning, if--"

"I... I need help," he mumbles, loud enough so that it can be received on the other end. He groans when he tries to sit up and lets himself fall back down, back into the puddle with a splash and spike of pain in his side. His side isn't completely numb anymore, it seems. "I don'... wanna get into it, but... 'm in an alley...alley way, beside that diner Hunk works at, 'n'..."

"Alright, buddy. Hold on, we're on our way," Shiro's voice chimes in, and Keith feels his heart skip a beat. He didn't realize how much he wanted to hear Shiro's voice.

"S...Shiro," he says, voice quiet, as he tries to pull the phone closer to him. "I-- 'm sorry, I..."

"I know, buddy," Shiro says, accompanied by Adam muttering a curse in the background, "We'll talk about what happened later. Right now, we're gonna come get you and bring you home, okay?"

"...'kay."

"Don't hang up."

Despite how much the noises from the phone hurts his ears, he doesn't hang up, just like Shiro had asked, and he's rewarded for not doing so by seeing Shiro's pickup truck nearly five minutes later.

* * *

Keith doesn't remember falling asleep.

He remembers Shiro and Adam helping him into the car, he remembers Shiro's utter fury as Keith explained what happened while he drove, he remembers Adam patching him up in the backseat and telling Shiro to  _"go slower, Takashi, you're scaring him."_

There are birds chirping a melody outside of the windows, something that makes his head pound harder. He knows now that it's morning, but there are  _never_ birds outside of his window, because he doesn't have a window in his room.

Something shifts underneath him and he frowns, confusing filling his mind in several different areas as he forces leaden eyes open slowly.

A pair of blue jeans, accompanied by a socked foot is what he sees and he frowns a little more, shuffling around where he lays, on... the couch. The couch from the living room, which means... he must be in the living room.

Then someone--  _Adam,_ his brain supplies-- snores and he smiles softly, letting his eyes flutter back shut. Despite the rough texture of jeans beneath his cheeks, he finds his position rather comfortable.

"Hey, bud," Another voice pipes up, then, and Keith brings up his right arm to rub at his eyes as he rolls over. He yawns widely, not bothering to cover his mouth as he does so. Adam was the one who cared that he didn't cover his mouth when he yawned ( _"If you yawn, I yawn, and I don't want to be tired, kiddo.")_ ,  and he's too tired to care, as well. "How you feeling?"

"Tired," he mumbles, sniffling softly as he gets comfortable on his back. His side throbs in time with his heartbeat, but... it doesn't hurt, not too badly. "Li'l' sore."

"I'd imagine," Shiro hums, and brushes his hair back. Keith makes a face but doesn't try to move away; it feels nice. "Can you open your eyes for me?"

Instead of answering, Keith moves his arm slowly, and lets his eyes flutter open just as slowly. He gets a blurry image of Shiro crouching in front of him, eyebrows furrowed but a soft smile on his face nonetheless.

"Hey there," Shiro says, amusement lacing his voice. Keith smiles back, sticking his tongue out at him, and yawns again. "You might be sore for a few days; you've got some pretty nasty bruises on your side, and your wrist is sprained. You're lucky Adam's a nurse, huh?"

Keith hums in agreement.

"School was cancelled today," Shiro continues as he keeps brushing Keith's hair away from his face. "Heat's out in your school."

He nods slowly, letting Shiro know he's listening as he breathes deep.

"Adam took the day off, but I have work in twenty minutes. Do you want anything to eat before I leave?"

"...eggs?" he asks, keeping his voice quiet in case he wakes Adam up. He doesn't want Adam to wake up; if he does, Shiro might not make breakfast, and he likes the way Shiro makes it.

"Eggs it is," Shiro smiles and laughs before getting out of his crouch, rubbing the space between Keith's eyebrows briefly. He takes his hand off of his head and Keith suppresses the urge to get the hand back; it felt  _nice._ "Bacon, too?"

Keith nods.

* * *

Adam woke up sometime while Keith was eating, grumbled something about never sleeping sitting up again, and took off for the bathroom to shower (all after making sure Keith was okay, of course).

Keith ate the eggs slowly, trying not to bother his split lip, but going under the excuse of savoring the taste when Shiro questioned it. Shiro had left a few minutes ago, saying he'd be back around six, to which Keith huffed but nodded. It wasn't too long; it was already 9:30am.

His phone dinged beside him and he frowned. His phone never alerted him he had a text, because he never  _got_ texts. Adam and Shiro believed in phone calls, and the group chat he was apart of he  _swore_ he left the day before.

Slowly, he turned on his phone, wondering who would be texting him out of the blue--

 

_Lancey Lance & Hunketh (9:32am)_

_keeeeitth!!!_

_KEith_

_KEITH_

_keith :(_

_Hunketh & Lancey Lance (9:34am)_

_Lance, leave him alone_

_I doubt he wants to talk to us_

 

Oh.

It's them, and... they want to talk to him, after everything he  _did?_ After everything he  _said?_

 

_Hunk (9:35am)_

_Hey, man, ignore Lance_

_I know you don't really want to talk to us right now, which is cool! I would get why_

_Just_

_Adam told us what happened, and we're worried_

_Give us, or me, a call, when you can?_

 

 

Keith ditches the plate of delicious eggs and bacon for his phone.

* * *

 

 

They're still mad, but Keith understands now.

Hunk and Lance were right about him selling drugs, hidden behind blueberries, and Keith had blown up at them for no reason. He had ended their  _friendship_ for no reason. 

The phone call with Hunk lasted about half an hour; a half hour full of tears and ' _I'm sorry'_ 's and Keith's split lip reopening. 

When Adam had exited the shower, hair still dripping with water and a towel around his waist, he had nearly dropped said towel in his haste to comfort Keith. Keith would never be more grateful that Adam had something akin to motherly instincts, without actually being his mom.

* * *

"You know we'd never actually leave you, right, man?" Lance says, later that night, when they're on a call together. Keith's fingers still from where they had previously been pressing buttons quickly, trying to kill the other team members from capturing the point. The screen flashes a second later, indicating his death, but Keith doesn't care. "Like, sure, we have arguments, and sometimes we give each other the cold shoulder, but... we're never actually gone for good, y'know?"

Keith swallows hard against the lump in his throat. Suddenly every little thing seems interesting; the ice pack pressed against his side, the soft texture of the blanket around his arms, the way the fan ticks every other spin.

"...You do know that,  _right?_ " Hunk asks, then, echoing Lance's words. 

Keith feels guilt make his stomach churn painfully. He  _does_ know that, but... he doesn't, at the same time, and he doesn't know how to explain that.

"I do," Is what he says instead, fidgeting with the edge of the blanket he had stolen from Adam and Shiro's room, "... I do."

"Good," Lance breathes, in relief, and... he doesn't seem to know that Keith is partially lying. That's good.

Hunk, on the other hand, looks confused on his screen, a little concerned, too, but nods, and they go back to defending the point in silence (except for when Lance whoops in joy when he gets a head shot, which is every few seconds).

He thinks, one day, he'll trust what Lance says about them never leaving.

That day, though, isn't today.

 

 


End file.
